FDA SCORE Recall Oversight Team Streamlines Process

Six months ago, in April, FDA moved to speed its response when there are foods on the market that present a real or potential danger to consumers’ health, creating a team of key senior leaders to get involved with the most challenging recall situations – i.e., those complicated by such issues as the nature of the product, the scope of available evidence, and the company’s response. The team is called SCORE (Strategic Coordinated Oversight of Recall Execution).

FDA sees SCORE as already making a difference, helping to overcome obstacles and streamlining processes to get potentially harmful foods off the market as soon as possible to reduce further consumer exposure.

In a Q&A, SCORE co-chairs William Correll, director of the Office of Compliance in the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), and Douglas Stearn, director of the Office of Enforcement and Import Operations in FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs (ORA), talk about what SCORE has achieved in its first six months, the challenges it has faced, and the road ahead. In an FDA Voice blog, Stephen Ostroff, Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine, and Howard Sklamberg, Deputy Commissioner for Global Regulatory Operations and Policy, talk about SCORE’s role in complex recalls.

Read the Q&A and blog at

• A Conversation with William Correll and Douglas Stearn
• FDA Voice blog